Already last year there was a small fine Škoda road trip to the Wörthersee meeting 2014. At that time it went with three octavias from Salzburg to Klagenfurt. This year should be on the way to GTI meeting 2015 be a little bit bigger The Škoda-Wörthersee-Tour 2015.
Meeting point at Munich Airport. Škoda Octavia L&K are waiting for us in the parking lot, Octavia RS Combi, Octavia RS TDI as well Octavia Combi Scout 2.0 TDI 4 × 4. Something for every taste. It just wasn't as colorful as last year.
But who needs colorful when he has a road trip in front of him? Pure driving counts. Munich, Chiemsee, Großglockner High Alpine Road, Wörthersee, Nockalm Road, Munich - and many, many more roads, passes, memorabilia. The path was still the destination.
There is nothing better than getting to know nature, landscape and panoramas about the asphalt band and the ride in the car - especially when roads meander through the area as well as in the Alps. Past colorful flowers, rushing streams, ruined ruins. This is road trip romance and car driver kitsch, as I like it. In the valley, we quickly leave the lethargic Chiemsee behind us and make the difference in altitude.
Here in the valley, between the mountain crests, if you follow this small insignificant gray stripe and the mountain massif rises steeply to the left and right of you, you will feel it again. This insignificance that everything is so small. With your chin on the dashboard you can just see the peaks of the mountains right in front of your nose. So often experienced and every time fascinating again.
Take a quick break, put the tip on, let the camera around your neck and take in the scenery. The rustling of the Tauwasserbach in the background, the ghostly silence of the ruin, the Alpine panorama ... Here I am human, here I can be.
Back to the cockpit, the engine started and off to beautiful Austria. The road to the Austrian border shows me a beautiful side of a united Europe. Picturesque mountain roads, surrounded by all kinds of conifers, small tunnels. Somewhere in between, in front of an inconspicuous tunnel, the attentive driver is made aware that he has reached Austria. Border? Where? After all, it works inside Europe.
Out of the wooded valley, we quickly make up height until finally the snowy alpine panorama reveals itself to us. Rugged rocks to the left, the curvy ribbon of joy under the wheels and white peaks to the right - this is what a well-maintained trip through the Alps looks like.
We reach the Großglockner high alpine road, pay a substantial road use fee and start looking forward to the high mountains. Loop after loop the serpentines screw up. Thanks to the DSG in the Octavia Combi Scout, there is no stirring in the transmission, the Haldex-4 × 4 keeps us on track without loss of traction.
Do not worry, the goose march at a snail's pace, we put only for the photo on the asphalt. During the photo stop and the column crawl first rain sets in. Gradually the asphalt gets wet. Quickly the photos are in the box and after the release of Enes, the man behind the camera, comes, it can only be called "fire free!"
Pressurally pushes the two-liter diesel. 380 Newtonmeter, the downslope and the next serpentine that rushes towards you. A courageous kick into the brake pedal makes the thrust vehemently an end. The onset of negative acceleration presses the rib cage into the belt. Relaxed, it's at the vertex again on the gas.
As pulled on the line, the Combi Scout follows the steering impulses. Pushing over the front axle? Niente. Of course, the jacked-up body now and then draw attention, but that makes the Combi Scout thanks all-wheel easy to make up for in comparison to the pure front scratch RS.
A high on the DSG in the diesel. Power has the 2.0 TDI - without question. However, if the usable torque is somewhere between 2.000 and 3.500 revolutions, you are glad that the dual-clutch transmission is taking over.
The landscape becomes rugged. Dirty snow lines the roadsides, the thermometer shows only five degrees. Up to over 2.500 meters altitude leads us our way. From spring, nothing is felt here, the wind cuts icy in the face. Time for the departure. On to the Wörthersee.
With the Škoda Octavia Combi Scout we were well prepared for the mountainous country. After reaching Heiligenblut and leaving the Grossglockner Pass, we set out to find suitable terrain for the Combi Scout. We want to see what he can do off the asphalt. And that's something to read separately.
Text: MvB Photos: Škoda Auto Germany (Enes Kucevic) / MvB